For the longest standing time in the history of franchises, no other series has been quite the beleaguerment of a rollercoaster journey, than with famed mangaka Nakaba Suzuki's Nanatsu no Taizai a.k.a The Seven Deadly Sins. Since the start of the series in 2012, it had been given a promising upstart by both A-1 Pictures and Aniplex coming to the anime adaptations of its first 2 seasons, then given the boot by it going to Studio Deen and Marvy Jack to finish the remainder, forever tarnishing the series in infamy. Even with movies and canon events, it's just sad to see the famed series drop into obscurity of the fame that it once had, dropped by anime execs hungry for money that quality followed significantly by a mega ton, only to become an inglorious meme for the quality that was given to the remainder of the manga's anime project.
This time, not anymore. Nakaba Suzuki is back with his sequel series, titled "Mokushiroku no Yonkishi" a.k.a Four Knights of the Apocalypse, straight after the main series' conclusion, continuing the good faith of the franchise in the hopes that any anime adaptation of it will bring back the hope and confidence that the series is known for. And we've finally got it, courtesy of TMS Entertainment and its subsidiary Telecom Animation Film to get the first 2-cour series animated through Fall last year to Winter this year, while Season 2 will have to wait awhile more before its continuation in the upcoming Fall season. In any case, the relief that Nanatsu no Taizai is finally in safe hands, it's pretty much guaranteed now.
Picking up on the events of the main series, the story of Mokushiroku no Yonkishi takes place 16 years after the last Holy War between the Seven Deadly Sins and the Ten Commandments, with all conflicts drawn to a close and Britannia in peace and harmony once again. But on the other side of the spectrum, lies a young boy named Percival, who lives with his grandfather Varghese, in pure isolation away from the world on the Finger of God for 16 years of his life. That is until a Knight of Chaos, Ironside, comes forth without any warning to prey on both grandfather and his son, the latter not knowing that he has a power untold so great, it could destroy the world, as prophesized that Percival is part of a group of four knights who will bring destruction to the world. A "family" feud later, and Percival, with the loss of his grandfather, honours his last words with a new suit that was meant for his 16th birthday and the permission to venture the lands for his new adventure, alongside an unlikely ally.
Initially, Nakaba Suzuki claimed that he wanted to use Tristan, the son of Meliodas and Elizabeth to set the pace of the new sequel series, but changed his mind against having someone who's directly related to the main series, be part of the sequel as a majority stake, which lead to the creation of Percival, a standalone specific character for the sequel series, and his design being particularly focused on the cuteness of the character when drawing him, adding elements that are able to highlight this, such as his helmet and cloak.
As the Knight of Death born during the Holy War, Percival is actually quite powerful mentally with his mana, with the Dragon Handle sword that's birthed once the plot has come that his enemy, Camelot, is once again targeting the Coffin of Eternal Darkness, hoping to eradicate the Four Knights of the Apocalypse on their own nefarious terms. Thankfully, the lil' boy is not alone in this regard as the others become valuable side team members while on their godspeed way to Liones. Starting with Donny, he has the power of telekinesis, which he initially mistakes as an ability that simply makes objects float in place, and is a highly skilled knife wielder. The problem is that he's a coward, a failed Holy Knight trainee who's related to Howser, more than just joining Percival by accident as part of a circus trope. For Nasiens, he's the group's Remy (from Ratatouille) as a poison checker, who creates drugs and poisons, allowing him to also consume any poison and mix together with his own concoctions...that in the same vein, he befriends Percival and always treats him like his guinea pig. The last member of the group: Anghalhad a.k.a Anne, a governor's daughter who got caught in the line of fire on the road to becoming an aspiring Holy Knight. She has the gift to sense when others are lying or have hidden intentions, making her distrustful of others, but has a change of heart to overcome her skepticism when she meets Percival, who lacks any sense of deceit.
Once the aforementioned Four Knights of the Apocalypse meet, they may be nowhere on the level of the Seven Deadly Sins, but still, they're strong as heck. Percival is a given, and he's joined by Lancelot, the Knight of War who's parading around as the talking fox named Sin to find his other fellow members, and also to avoid detection from Camelot and its forces, whoever they may be, especially as the half-fairy son of Ban and Elaine. Soon after, Tristan comes along after they met in Liones, being Meliodas and Elizabeth's son, the Knight of Pestilence, who leads his own Holy Knight Platoon of childhood friends Chion and Jade, as well as Isolde. Gawain is the last of the four, and despite being the only female member of the Apocalypse, her stance is very similar to Escanor, even down to her weapon of choice, the sword. The only thing intolerable about her is that she has a superiority complex due to her grandparents' upbringing and believes that she is the strongest of the Four, mentally regressing into a temperamental child whenever her confidence is broken. She is related to Arthur Pendragon, who has shifted sides in this sequel series.
Speaking of Arthur, the Kingdom of Camelot is the main antagonist party this time, with the foresight that the Four Knights of the Apocalypse will bring ruin to the world and destroy all in its path, and he'll go to lengths to stop the quad-person party and their followers, no matter the method. Alongside him is the Knights of Chaos, the Holy Knights equivalent for Camelot, of which Ironside is one, as well as others like Pellegarde and Tailsker, each with their own unique standouts in power that serves Arthur with loyalty.
Once again, like the main series, the sequel here adds a lot more pack and punch, stacking itself by being a continuation and result of a new conflict that does not get the situations resolved in a quicker way than before. This is stereotypical for Nakaba Suzuki's standards to integrate as much characters as possible for another depiction of the "same same yet different" Holy War, and this formula really hasn't changed one bit since the main series. It's good, though the only difference is with the Boruto-ish generational gap.
If you would've told me that this show's production is better than Studio Deen and Marvy Jack's co-efforts, I would've busted a nut to say that reality is often unfair, and the sequel will be no better than Seasons 3, 4 and the spin-off canon movies. In fact, the converse is true that the sequel DID get a better treatment, even if it means a fine and decent production overall with TMS Entertainment and its subsidiary Telecom Animation Film, who produced the show. It's not the best, but I will gladly take this any day than re-watch the bastardized monstrosity that is Seasons 3 and thereafter of the main series. Props to in-house director Maki Kodaira and her staff team for giving the respect that the series desperately needed in terms of animation.
The music, however, feels like a mixed bag of proportions that I don't understand how it managed to fit within the confines of the anime itself. The OST is, like past entries in the series, the bog-standard Nanatsu no Taizai quality of that when both A-1 Pictures and Aniplex are at the helm, which is rather forgettable and doesn't make quite the impact, even with said famed composer SawanoHiroyuki and inputs from sound director Kohta Yamamoto (which the two have collaborated in the past. The weird choices continue onto the theme songs, and as much as I liked the 1st Cour's pairing of Little Glee Monster and MOONCHILD being childish songs of fun and hope than the 2nd Cour's pairing with J01 and zakinosuke. with its rather K-Pop-ish and mellow songs (with the latter song having a somewhat unique visual flair), these are definitely not songs which I associate much for a juggernaut series like Nanatsu no Taizai.
But still, with Mokushiroku no Yonkishi a.k.a Four Knights of the Apocalypse being a true, proper return back to the classic Nanatsu no Taizai style, I can definitely say that I feel relieved that it feels good to once again watch the series as it is truly intended, though at an appropriate speed that has enough content for Season 2 coming back in Fall 2024. Looking forward to more, and the adventures of Percival and the gang are not over yet.
